Sacrifice
by doritosmycheetos12
Summary: This is a rewrite of the last episode Sacrifice. What if Ryan had taken longer to get to Max? Basically this version is just more violent, Kurt and Max fight more. Once rescued, the trio believes it is all over, but Lily realizes she failed and plans to finish the job. Can Mike and Ryan keep Max safe while dealing with the trauma of Mikes father's murder? *Changed to Multi Chap.*
1. Chapter 1

**Sacrifice**

**This is a rewrite of the last episode. (Sacrifice) Max is currently (probably) my favorite character, and so I wasn't very pleased with how the episode went. This is my take on it, it is obviously more brutal/violent. This will probably just be a one-shot. Spoilers for the episode, you don't have to have seen the episode to read this, but it will help, A LOT. So enjoy, let me know what you think. This is my first "The Following" fic, so...yeahh.**

**Also, I did not transfer the script exactly, I have rearranged the order and what is said, basically its the same meaning, but not the same script, if that makes sense...Anyway, don't own the characters.**

**Warnings- **

**-Hints at/Minor, MINOR sexual assault, ****but no rape or even close to anything. **

**-Violence.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hunt me." Max said through gritted teeth.

"I have a job to do." The Huntsman replied with a dirty glance at Max.

Max squeezed her eyes shut, the pain from being strung up was beginning to take its toll. Her shoulders burned with an unseen fire that kept Max breathing hard and attempting to anticipate his next move.

"Come on, that's not how you work." Max pressed.

"My orders were to kill you. That's it."

"From who?"

"A friend."

"A friend that is probably Lily, you don't have to listen to her."

"Well aren't you a smarty pants?" Kurt replied rhetorically.

"Hunt me. I know you want the challenge!"

"It's not my call."

"I can run a mile under six minutes, I'm an officer, I'm the exact challenge you ne-" Kurt cut her off with a backhand to her cheek.

Max bit her lip as her head fell to her shoulder level. She slowly looked back up. Kurt hadn't moved, he was staring deeply into her eyes with a sense of lust beckoning in his dark sadistic eyes.

"Tell me, where are your other tattoos? I know you have more." Kurt said, he knew how to get under her skin. A small half smile played on his lips as he fingered the one exposed on her stomach.

"Don't touch me." Max growled.

"What? Like this?" Kurt grinned widely as his hands slipped completely under her shirt and around her waist.

"I said stop." Max tried again.

"Who says we can't have a little fun first?"

"Me, I say no!" Max tried to wriggle out of his rough grasp, but it only further egged him on. She grimaced and grunted as his hands began traveling her body. She moved every which way possible.

Kurt grabbed on to the button of her pants, Max kicked her legs up and wrapped them around his neck, this broke her button off completely and it dinged against the opposite wall. Max pulled herself off the hook on the ceiling and fell to the ground on top of Kurt.

Kurt swirmed under her until he was able to regain his freedom. He rolled his large body until he was on top of Max.

"Now where were we?"

Max let out a deafening scream, if nothing else, maybe someone would hear her and come to her rescue. She was not given the pleasantry of help, but she did she her window of opportunity as Kurt cringed. He was momentarily distracted and it was enough to give Max the chance to win back the upper hand.

Max sent a knee into his manhood, releasing a grunt of pain from Kurt as he rolled off her body grasping the hurt area. She rolled onto her stomach and crawled away from the volatile man, but it wasn't long until Kurt recovered and grabbed her ankles, pulling her back into his disgusting arms.

"No!" Max involuntarily cried.

Her pant caught on the back end of a protruding nail and ripped her jeans from the ankle up to the near inches of her pelvis, as she slid back across the ground into Kurt's waiting hands. The cool draft of the nights air invaded her now exposed leg as her jean flopped open.

Max let Kurt slide her all they back until she was close enough to kick him in the face, once she did, and she had effectively stunned him, Max stumbled to her feet and ran out of the small cabin Kurt was holding her.

Her open jeaned leg swished between her legs irritatingly. Yet Max ran until she was thoroughly hidden behind a tree, she ripped off the bottom part of her jeans at the knee and threw them away from her body. He leg immediately chilled as even more of her white skin was exposed. While hidden, Max cut off the duct tape around her wrists on a nearby log. Once free, Max sprinted off. Adrenaline was carrying her now, Max didn't fight it, she ran until she came to a wired fence.

Max climbed beneath and hid in the foliage of the earth. She slowed her breathing to the best of her abilities, but adrenaline and fear still had their lasting effect on Max. She laid her head down and closed her eyes, praying to an unseen God for help out of this terrible situation.

Max let out a gasp of fright as a bullet whizzed past her flat body. She obviously had been spotted, but if she tried to get up and run he would just shoot her, or she could stay where she was and wait for him to hit his mark or come find her himself, either way she was a dead woman. Another shot whizzed past, except this time it skimmed its mark at Max's torso. Max grabbed the stinging area and felt the warm blood seep through her fingers. Max closed her eyes in a painful muster as a grunt escaped her lips.

When she opened her eyes Kurt was right in front of her. A small scream echoed through the night as she felt his weight pounce on her body, the wind left her lungs and the two rolled down the mini hill. They stopped rolling a few feet later with Kurt on top of her straddling her waist. Her flesh wound burned more and more by the second, but there was no time to worry about the blooding seeping through her stomach. The first punch landed on Max's left cheekbone with a dizzying effect.

"Ohh." Max muttered as her head fell to her side.

The punches didn't ease, a few seconds later Max was clinging to consciousness as Kurt continued his brutal attack. The next one was her nose, then her eye, and her jaw until out of the corner of her eye she saw a figure in the woods. Max did everything she could to focus on the figure between violent punches, finally she recognized the figure.

"Mike!" Max screamed as loud as her tired lungs would allow. When she saw he hadn't heard her, Max gave it another try, this time it was loud enough to grab Mikes attention. Her calling out for Mike was enough to stop Kurt from hitting her again, he looked over at the figure she was calling to and began searching for his gun. Max gathered the strength to attack, but all she could do was lift her head up from the ground under her. Kurt found his gun and aimed it at the running figure.

"Mike, look out!" Max tried to warn. Her head began to swim with each thought, the world began turning as she struggled to remember where she was. Her vision blurred and her head fell back to the ground. A gun shot into the night released a scream from Max, she believed Mike had been shot, but as the heavy weight of a dead body collapsed on her bruised and bleeding body she realized Kurt had been the one shot. She was immediately relieved and closed her eyes in exhaustion.

"Max!" Ryan cried. He ran to her side and pulled Kurt off her body, Max realized Ryan had shot Kurt and saved her life once again. He pulled her eye lids open for her and said her name again. "Max, I need you to stay awake. The ambulance is on it's way."

"But I'm so tired." Max muttered as her eyes fluttered closed again.

"I know you are, but you gotta stay with me." Ryan said earnestly.

Max weakly nodded.

Ryan began examining her body, he made note of all of her injuries and couldn't help but notice her broken button jeans and the ripped open leg of her jeans. His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach as he made terrifying assumptions.

He easily laid his hand on Max's exposed thigh.

"God, Max. Did he-?"

Max immediately cut him off with a firm denial.

"No, no he didn't."

Max tried as hard as she could, but darkness made its mark and took Max with it into a restless slumber.

* * *

"Where are the medics?!" Ryan screamed as Max fell into unconsciousness. "Max, Max, come on. Please wake up for me." Ryan lightly slapped her cheek in quick repetitive motions in an effort to awake Max.

There was no response and Ryan was further worried.

"Here they are." Mike said quickly, he moved out of the way as the medics ran to Max's side. Ryan grudgingly moved out of their way and stood up to watch them move her on a gurney.

"I've got a flesh wound on the lower torso, trauma to the face, but nothing extensive or permanent, get an IV started." One paramedic began to say. A woman paramedic turned to Ryan and the began following them out of the woods.

"Should I order a SEA?" The woman asked Ryan.

"A what?"

"Sexual Assault Exam?" The woman paramedic asked lightly.

"No, she wasn't raped." Ryan growled.

The woman noticed Ryan's connection and let it go. They finally made it out of the woods and to the ambulance. Ryan hopped in behind the medics not waiting for an invitation. Soon enough they were speeding to the nearest hospital.

Ryan's head fell into his hands in distress. His head immediately bounced up as he heard the all too familiar sound of someone flatlining.

"NO!" Ryan screamed.

"Sir, I need you to calm down." The woman medic said as the other two paramedics began performing CPR, one horrifying minute later Ryan heard the reassuring sound of the monitor tracking her heart beats.

"We got her." One paramedic said.

Ryan collapsed back onto his seat as the warm tears in his eyes threatened to pool over. As they arrived at the hospital, Max was rushed back while Ryan was forced to wait in the waiting room.

Anxiety took over and Ryan stormed out of the hospital. He was ready to run away, to anywhere but the dreadful place he was at. He was stopped at the corner by Mike. Mike put both his hands on Ryan's chest and stopped him from going anywhere else. Ryan realized they had followed the ambulance to the hospital.

"You're going to leave her?"

"No, I just - I need to get away." Ryan breathed heavy.

"She needs you Ryan. The second they let you see her, you'll be the first person she wants to see."

Ryan hesitantly nodded his head and let Mike lead him back into the waiting room of the hospital.

It wasn't long until they were allowed to see her. Ryan let the doctor lead him to Max's room. The doctor was explaining all Max's injuries on the way, but Ryan was too worried to really listen. He heard certain things like "minor gunshot", and "broken nose", but he couldn't concentrate on anything but seeing his niece.

"This is her room, she's pretty high on pain killers." The doctor explained.

Ryan nodded his thanks and entered Max's room. The sight before him was not only unsettling, but extremely guilt encouraging.

Max was connected to several different machines, a breathing cannula draped beneath her nose, her nose that was bandaged with bruising surrounding it completely. He could see the white cloth wrapped around her waist beneath her gown. There was other bruising accenting her face, but nothing else to serious. Minor scratches covered the entirety of her body as Ryan realized she had been hunted just like all of "The Huntsman's" other victims.

Ryan realized just how close he was to losing the only family he had left. The tears he had been holding back poured down his face as Max opened her eyes.

"Ryan." Max mumbled weakly. A small smile lit up her face as Ryan sat down on the side of her hospital bed.

He grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles while looking deeply into her eyes, he squeezed her hand, and closed his eyes.

"God, Max."

"It's okay. I'm here."

Ryan bent to give her a half awkward hug. Max wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed tightly. Her eyes filled with tears and spilled over her bruised face, Max began to sob, soaking Ryan's shoulder in tears. Ryan lifted her back and pulled her to a sitting position. He wrapped his arms completely behind her back and squeezed back with just as much power.

Max felt the pain in the stretching of her stitches, but she didn't care. She needed Ryan's warming touch. His hug was soothing and gave Max the security she craved.

"I won't let anyone ever touch you again." Ryan promised.

"I'll hold you to it, Ryan Hardy." Max replied with a weak chuckle.

The promise was comforting even though the both knew it was a lie. No one could promise something like that, especially in their respective careers. But Max believed him, it was enough to hold on to for the time being.

Ryan groaned as he pulled out his phone and saw the newest video message.

"Oh God."

* * *

**Hope you liked it, please let me know with a review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I decided to make this a multi chapter fic. So we'll see where this goes. Let me know what you think. And *Changed Summary*. **

Chapter 2

"What, what is it?" Max quickly questioned with as much strength as she could muster.

"Im sorry, Max. I've got to go, I'll be back soon." Ryan said, his facial expression showed anxious worry, Max knew something was wrong, but she also knew Ryan wouldn't tell her what was going on.

He placed a light kiss on her forehead and ran out of the room, he found Mike waiting in the waiting room. His fingers were at his mouth and his gaze held the ground, a slight rock was evident and Ryan began to realize the strong unseen bond between Mike and Max.

"Mike, I just got another video."

"Let's watch it."

Ryan had a gut feeling they shouldn't, his better side told him to take it to FBI headquarters, but his curiosity took over without another thought. His thumb tapped the screen and the video began playing.

His eyes swept the screen as Lily Grey's blond locks and devious smile filled the rectangle. Immediately his demeanor changed and his face creased into a hard glare.

"Hello, Ryan Hardy. I'm really sorry about Max, she has been a great loss." Lily's face met a half closed lipped smile as she began to move around the room. Mike grabbed the phone from Ryan's hands and began stuttering.

"Wait, I-I know this place. This is my dads house."

Ryan reached for the phone but Mike swung it out of his greedy grasp.

"Mike give me the phone." When Mike failed to answer, Ryan knew something was deathly wrong. "Turn it off Mike!"

Mike slowly turned to face Ryan, his blue eyes glistened as tears began streaming down his face. His expression expressed perfect shock and a distant gaze as Ryan's face fell. A slight shake of his head and Ryan feared the worst.

"My dad. They killed my dad." Mike said dead panned.

"No.." Ryan trailed off as the information sunk in.

* * *

It had taken a good hour to get Mike calmed down enough to talk to at least Mendez. Ryan had already explained what happened and as Mike talked to Mendez, Ryan watched as the elite team went through the video tape.

Obviously Lily was unaware that Max survived, but what bugged Ryan was that this time she didn't even give them a chance to save Mikes dad.

Why?

Clearly, she was narcissistic and sadistic. It was thrilling to see Ryan fret and worry about not knowing what happened to Max, yet she was even more thrilled to kill Mikes dad with out a "fight", she wanted the immediate pain and fear it brought. She also knew that targeting the two people Ryan cared about, she would cause the maximum amount of pain.

Well she nailed her mark to the dot.

Seeing the people he loved in so much pain, what heartbreaking. Whether Ryan showed it or not, he was breaking inside along side Mike and Max.

At the thought of her name, Ryan realized he had abandoned her at the hospital. He made a quick exit and found Mike and Alvarez making their way back to the conference room.

"I think Mike should come with me." Ryan said in a matter of fact tone.

"I think that's a good idea." Gina Mendez agreed.

"What are you talkin about? We need to find Lily Grey and make her pay." Mike said with fire he had been lacking since being put back on Joe Carroll's case.

"We will, but you need some rest, and to take your mind off...everything." Alvarez said.

"I was just about to go see Max again, I'm sure she'd love to see you." Ryan said with a tiny hint only noticeable to Mike. Ryan was picking up on their little secret, whether they knew it or not, Ryan was beginning to see something. Now the question was, did they?

Mike hesitantly nodded and followed Ryan out of the building. Ryan causally put a hand on his back and patted him comfortingly, followed by a series of soothing and methodic circles of rubbing.

"It'll be okay." Ryan mumbled.

Whether his point got across or not, he was unsure, but he didn't press. He drove in silence as Mike released the last of his unshed tears.

As they arrived at the hospital, Ryan observed Mike. He seemed to slightly perk at the thought of seeing Max. God knows he had been just as worried as Ryan when Max went missing, but she was safe now, and Mike couldn't wait to see her big brown eyes.

"I'll let you guys have a minute." Ryan said with a curt nod, he found a seat in a nearby chair and let his head fall weakly into his arms. His eyes fluttered closed and a seemingly unconscious state took over.

* * *

"Max?" Mike said lightly as he knocked on the door and entered.

"Mike." Max said with an evident smile.

Mike crept around the curtain and looked over at the battered brunette.

"Oh Max." Mike said he kneeled at her side and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight.

Max's eyes creeped closed and a small smile escaped her lips.

"I got ya didn't I?" Max laced her voice with sarcasm followed by a weak chuckle.

Mike chuckled back and looked up from the floor to meet the chocolate eyes that melt his heart. "You got me Max."

"What's wrong?" Max questioned. She started to really look at him, his eyes were red, obvious sign of recent crying. Something was very wrong.

"Max, you don't have to worry about anything." Mike answered quickly.

"God, all of you, stop treating me like a little kid you need to protect. What the hell is going on?"

"Lily." Mike growled.

"The video, it was from her?" Max asked hesitantly as the clues began to click.

"Yeah, she-she was at my dads house." Mike said. His head fell to his hands again as he fought with everything he had to be strong in front of this beautiful girl.

"What happened?" Max asked with a hard look.

"She killed me dad." Mike said as his voice cracked with emotion. He collapsed on the ground as more tears fell. He thought he had cried himself out, but as the warm tears continued to release, he realized it would be a long time before the tears would completely stop. His dads loss was more painful than any of them would ever know. As a hand crept around his neck, Mike looked up to see Max grimacing as she fell out of bed onto the ground next to him. He caught her just before she fell onto the cold linoleum floor. His hand protectively wrapped around her waist as his body turned to lean against the wall behind him, Max fell weakly into his arms with a grunt of pain, and her head found the crook of his neck. Mike held tight and laid his own head on top of hers, Max's eyes closed in painful exhaustion.

"Max-" Mike started but she cut him off with a simple "shhh".

"Hold me." Max whispered.

* * *

**Hope you liked this chapter, please let me know, if you have any ideas for the rest of the story please PM me!**

**Thanks. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Max easily fell asleep in Mikes arms. Her breathing was deep and heavy as her battered body fought to heal. Mike was able to pull her into a bridal position in his arms and stand up, once she was safely in her bed again, Mike pulled up a chair to sit next to her. His hand immediately grabbed her closest hand and stroked the knuckle. His eyes wandered to her bruised face, he couldn't help but think how beautiful she was. Not to mention the hell she's been through, and she will still come out on top. Mike was thrilled with Max, she was strong, independent, stubborn and he couldn't imagine not seeing her everyday. As he realized his thoughts were becoming borderline inappropriate he quickly shrugged them away and took a deep breath.

He was going to give everything he had to make sure Max healed.

As this thought traveled his head Ryan entered the room and found Mike holding Max's hand.

"How is she?"

"Tired. But she's doing good." Mike replied looking back at Max's slumped frame.

"Mike-"

"Don't Ryan. This isn't about me. It's about Max and doing everything we can to make sure she makes a full recovery."

"You're going to have to deal with it sometime."

"But not today." Mike replied dead panned. The best way to deal with the whole thing was to put all his effort into someone else. As long as he kept himself busy helping someone else, he wouldn't have to let the pain in. He could avoid the problem for a little while.

Max's eyes slowly fluttered open as she heard the two men bickering.

"Sorry Max. Did we wake you?"

"Actually, I'm feeling pretty hungry. Maybe you guys could go sneak me in some real food? This hospital food might as well be dog food, and I'm not having anymore."

Mike chuckled lightly, a real meaningful smile consuming his face and eyes. "You got it Max, we'll be right back."

Max nodded and closed her eyes again. Both Mike and Ryan left, figuring it would be best to give Max a little time to just relax on her own.

As soon as Mike and Ryan were out the door, Max snapped into action. There was no way she was spending the night in this hell hole. She had dealt with hospitals way too much in her childhood, and even the thought of one night, well, it was just too much.

Max swung her feet over the side of the bed with a grunt of pain. Taking a few seconds to catch her breath, Max closed her eyes. Once the dizziness passed, Max put her hands behind her on the bed and pushed off into a standing position. She leaned heavily on the bed post for support. Her vision blurred as uncontrollable dizziness filled her head. The room was spinning and Max was on the verge of collapsing, as she stood, trying to gather her bearings, the dizziness finally passed. She took a deep breath and pulled off all the wires and tubes connecting her to various machines. Once free, Max wobbly walked over to the dresser where she knew a fresh set of clothes was waiting. Ryan had already planned on checking her out tomorrow, he knew her too well. But not well enough, Max was done tonight. As she reached the dresser she found herself breathing hard and fighting for control over her vision. The room darkened again, and Max knew it was unsafe for her to be standing without help. Every time she looked up, insurmountable pain rose to her head taking its vision with her, the room would spin until Max lost sight of everything and she would nearly fall back into unconsciousness. Max pulled out her clothes and quickly ripped off the ugly hospital gown. She slipped on her underwear and put on a plain bra as painful memories started to surface. Quickly she shrugged them away and started on her jeans, she hopped in them and pulled them up to her waist. She began doing the zipper and button, pleased with her speedy work. She must have gotten too cocky, next thing she knew the world had darkened around her and Max fell to the floor with a small thump. Her shirt idly fell next to her, and her wounded torso clashed against the cold ground. But Max was deep into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Mike asked.

"Anywhere that we can get a giant burger." Ryan replied.

His mind flashed back to a recent memory. He and Max had been doing some work on the plaguing case of Joe Carrol. He was obviously feeling hungry as he had begun to act irritable and ornery.

_"Do you want me to get you some food?" Max asked with a devious, knowing grin. _

_Ryan sent her a hard glance followed by a small half smile. _

_"And a coke." Ryan said as Max left the room with a smile on her face. _

_Little did he know that Max would return with a giant burger, a known Hardy tradition. He realized then just how well she had been raised. _

_"Mmm. Burgers." _

_"What else could I have possibly gotten?" Max replied with a slight sarcastic grin. _

_Ryan glanced at her before digging in to what would soon become the only "out of house" meal the two would share. _

"Ryan?" Mike said for the second time.

"Sorry, what?"

"What were you thinking about?"

"Just an old memory with Max."

The two men grabbed enough food for the three of them from a nearby burger joint and they headed back to the hospital.

The pair was oddly happy for the time being, even with all the hurt surrounding them, they had found a hole of light in the tunnel. It was enough to keep the men from falling into the closing in despair.

Ryan pushed the door open first, he glanced at Max's empty bed and then saw her laying on the floor in a puddle of her own blood.

"Help! Nurse, help!" Ryan cried. He dropped the food and ran to Max's exposed body. It looked as though she had hit her head when she passed out and that was adding to the pool of blood around her torso. But that wasn't the most concerning wound. Max was bleeding heavily through her bandage, the shot that whisked her stomach, looked as though it hadn't stopped bleeding since Max passed out. He did his best to examine the bloody area and came to the conclusion that she had ripped her stitches.

"Where is the doctor?" Ryan cried again just as a team of medical staff came running in.

"How did you not know she was passed out and bleeding in your hospital?" Mike cried.

"She unhooked everything to alert us of something like this. There is no way we could have known." A dark nurse said kindly.

"She could have died and your blaming it on her?!"

"Mike, it's okay." Ryan said, trying to calm the unstable man down.

"Please, learn how to do your job before someone else come this close to death due to your carelessness." Mike said as they took Max out of the room. Ryan glanced back at the pool of blood. There wasn't enough to medically raise high concern, however Ryan was deeply concerned. What in the world had happened in their short absence?

* * *

**Thanks for all the reads and reviews! I'm glad you all are enjoying the story thus far. Please remember to leave another review as they so muchly make my day! I'm doing my best to keep the characters in character, however this show is particularly difficult. But I'm trying! **

**Thanks again. **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A light, a bright one at that.

"She's awake." A young nurse said and walked away from Max's side.

Max closed her eyes again, the bright light of the overhead bulb was invading and irritating. Her eyes squinted as she attempted to gather her bearings, a gentle touch on her shoulder nearly sent Max into a frenzy. Her eyes shot open only to find Mike gently comforting her at the shoulder with deep concern written all over his face. Max quickly calmed down.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone else was here." Max quickly explained and relaxed back down on her new hospital bed. The light had become bearable as Max grew accustomed, she looked over and saw Ryan sitting in a chair on the opposite side of her bed.

"Ryan." Max mumbled weakly.

"Max, what the hell?" Ryan questioned in a deep rumble.

Max squinted her eyes in confusion, what was going on?

"We leave for 20 minutes and come back to find you passed out and bleeding on the floor?" Ryan scolded, but Max wasn't hurt by the gentle rebuttal, Ryan deeply cared for his last living relative.

"What are you talking about?" Max questioned, she couldn't remember much of anything.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Mike asked quickly, his eager look rose concern in Max.

"Why?" Max asked gently.

Mike repeated the question.

"Um." Max closed her eyes and thought as hard as she could. "I guess it was...first seeing you guys in the hospital?" Max said weakly. "Wait no, I remember you guys asking me what I wanted to eat..."

"Then what?" Mike pressed easily.

After a moment of silence, Max's eyes opened with understanding written all over. "I wanted to leave, I was getting dressed so I could be ready by the time you guys got back, I didn't realize how weak I am." Max admitted with an embarrassed shrug.

"God Max, you can't do that to me." Mike said as his gaze found Ryan. "To us."

"I'm okay." Max said again, followed by a yawn.

"Get some sleep, if everything looks good tomorrow we might be able to take you home." Ryan said, he started for the door but Mike continued staring at Max from his position a few feet away.

"Mike?" Ryan rumbled.

"I'll be right there." Mike said as if he was in a trance.

Ryan nodded unsurely and left the two in privacy.

"Max." Mike said with a shake of his head, he pulled a chair to the side of her bed and grabbed her hand once more. His eyes found hers in a glaze of emotion. His eyes traveled each of her blooming bruises with rising guilt.

"Don't look at me like that." Max chided playfully.

A small smile crept over Mike's lips as he continued to look at the brunette haired beauty.

"What is it Mike?"

"I just- I want you to get better, don't hurt yourself. Okay?"

"You've got my promise." Max said with a devious grin.

"I'll hold you to it." Mike replied, he got up to leave but Max grabbed his hand to keep him from going.

"Mike?"

Mike looked deeply into Max's eyes.

"Thank you, for everything."

Mike nodded and quickly planted a kiss on her forehead before leaving Max alone in her hospital room.

* * *

Max fell into a deep slumber without the thought of being interrupted. Her dreams were commanding and powerful. A light snore echoed through her room as Max fought for the revival of her much needed strength. The first creak in the dark hallway wasn't nearly enough to arouse the sleeping brunette. As her door clicked open, Max rolled over in her bed, lightly bothered by the intruding noise. Another nearly soundless creak and Max was yawning and fighting to sit up in her bed. Before the action could be completed, a hand covered her mouth with a rag and a hand reached its way behind her head roughly yanking her head back by the hair. A small squeal erupted through her lips but was easily muffled by the rag. Max looked at her attacker but it was too dark to make out any definite physical features, but one thing was for sure; he was very tall and dark haired. Before Max could memorize any more the voice spoke in a deep voice.

"You'll do what I say, or I'll put a blade in your head."

Max grimaced and her eyes opened wide in fear as she saw the man pull out a large knife in the dark of the room. It glinted and sent chills through Max's body.

The man started pulling Max out of the bed, and Max immediately began struggling, she pulled away from his grasp and began screaming into the rag, she squirmed until here was a small break and the rag had lost contact with her lips. Max let out a ripping scream just before the rag was roughly placed back over her mouth with no mercy.

"You stupid bitch." The man growled as he pulled her from the bed and Max slammed to the ground. Max was clearly dazed by the brutal fall, her head was spinning as the light of her room was turned on and Max looked up with blurry eyes. She couldn't focus as the large man once again pulled out his large knife. Max looked at the doorway and saw two terrified nurses in the doorway. One screamed as the man charged at the two women.

"No," was all Max could mumble before she saw the man effortlessly murder the two nurses. Several stab wounds each and then he was gone, the man sprinted from the room leaving Max to fight her foggy head. She stumbled to her feet, weakly yelling for help before she too collapsed into a fit of slumber next to Lily Grey's newest victims of terror.

* * *

**Hey everyone. Sorry it has taken me so long to update, my life has literally been insane. I seriously can't express how INSANE my life is right now. Hah. Anyway, here's the latest update, I hope you all enjoyed; please let me know with a little comment below. Your reads and reviews are greatly appreciated. **


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Max's heart was thumping like a herd of wild elephants. Her breathing was ragged as she began to hear the alarms echoing through the hospital walls. Finally a doctor and several first responder cops entered the room. They split up to each of the "victims", two police officers ran to her side and began to aid her in any way they could.

"Can you tell us your name, Miss?" The dark haired cop asked.

"Max." She mumbled quietly, obviously still in shock.

"What happened?" The same cop questioned.

"Man-knife...stabbed. Me, ME!" Max cried in anguished fragments.

"What? I think you're in shock." The cop turned hiss attention away from Max. "Can somebody please help her?"

"Let's get her out of here and somewhere less hectic." A doctor said as he approached.

His eyes resonated with Max, something about them brought more anguish than she was already currently enduring. Reluctantly, Max followed the two male officers and the doctor into an empty room across the hall from all the commotion.

"Now, can you calmly tell us what happened?" The nice dark haired cop asked once again.

Max started to nod her head, but before she could actually speak, the doctor whipped out a knife and stabbed the dark haired cop multiple times in the abdomen. The cop slowly fell to the floor, bleeding away to a horrible death. Before the cop lost complete consciousness, he pulled out his pocket knife and slashed through his attackers leg, making a nasty gash. The man cried out in pain as Max's eyes were filled with tears, but before she could react or scream, the other lighter haired cop, that had yet to speak, wrapped his arms around Max's waist and brought a hand up to her mouth with a chloroform soaked rag. The aroma was immediately breathed in my Max's panic struck body, soon enough she was unconscious to the world and being carried out the back door of the room by the fake cop and doctor.

* * *

Ryan and Mike entered the hospital at a dead sprint. They had only received the call of the attack on Max moments earlier. The two men breathed heavily as they made a quick route to their needed destination. Finally upon arrival the two men were frantically searching for Max. They had been told she was a little frazzled from the event, but unharmed.

"Where is she? Where's Max?" Mike asked, not even bothering to hide his rising concern.

A nearby police officer responded to their beckoning calls.

"She went in that room over there." The police officer pointed to the room across from Max's assigned room. "She was in shock, they were trying to remove her from the situation so they could figure out what happened."

Ryan nodded his thanks before bursting through the appointed room. His heart dropped to his stomach as he realized they had been played again. Yet another body was found, but Max was missing.

"Where the hell is she?" Ryan growled through gritted teeth. Two more police officers entered the room to try and help the fallen cop.

"He's still alive!" One cried and Ryan immediately ran to the saide of the injured cop, he was the only link to Max.

"What happened?" Ryan asked.

"He needs a Doctor!" The cop cried.

Ryan ignored the cop and continued to talk to the slowly dying cop before his eyes.

"Did they take her? Who took her?" Ryan growled.

"Cop...and Doctor." The man mumbled as his eyes fell shut again. Ryan lightly slapped the mans cheek to help him regain just a few more seconds of consciousness.

"What did they look like?"

"Blond cop...native doctor." The man whispered before finally losing consciousness for probably the last time.

"Get him a doctor!" Mike yelled as the two men began running to see if they could catch the two impostors that had taken Max. Ryan and Mike went out the same back door the men that had taken Max used, they followed what they believed to be a blood trail from the killer, there must have been a tussle before they finally escaped.

The blood trail led out into the dead of the night but disappeared soon after. They must have gotten in a car and took off.

Max was gone.

* * *

Max was gently aroused from her sleep my a gentle shaking on her shoulder. She twisted her arms only to realize she was bound at the wrists above her head. Her eyes shot open as she began to take in her surroundings. She was bound to a bed by handcuffs at the wrists and ankles, but that wasn't the worst part.

Lily Grey stood above her with a devious grin across her petty face.

"Max, dear. It's so good to see you awake." Lily said with a fake sense of security. Her voice was gentle and calming, but Max knew better.

"Stay away from me you crazy whore!" Max spit in her face.

"Is that any way to treat your mother?" Lily said with a wicked grin.

"What the hell?" Max mumbled slowly.

"You need to learn some manners. You and Ryan Hardy."

Max kept her mouth shut as she watched Lily walk around the room gathering various instruments that Max knew were going to be used to torture her. She tried to keep the fear out of her eyes and voice, but it was too hard. Honestly, Max was terrified, she knew what was coming, and she didn't want to face it.

_God, Ryan where are you? And Mike..._


End file.
